


Be Here With You

by elliebird



Series: Previously Posted Roswell, New Mexico Fic (2019) [8]
Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Jealousy, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-21
Updated: 2020-02-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:15:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22828531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elliebird/pseuds/elliebird
Summary: Written for a Tumblr anon who asked “could you write something with Michael being jealous?”Kyle tries to make up for being a high school bully.
Relationships: Michael Guerin/Alex Manes
Series: Previously Posted Roswell, New Mexico Fic (2019) [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1636822
Comments: 8
Kudos: 100





	Be Here With You

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally posted on 02.16.19

Alex never planned to come back to Roswell. 

Joining the Air Force was the quickest way to secure a one way ticket out of the place that had come to symbolize hell for him. 

But his plans hadn’t included losing his leg, getting relegated to the Air Force’s equivalent of riding a desk and finding a letter with a set of keys and the deed to the Valenti hunting cabin. 

At eighteen, Roswell had been a last resort. He’s been home for months now and he’s still getting used to all the ways Roswell has - and hasn’t - changed. Kyle Valenti has turned out to be the most surprising change. 

A month after catching Kyle about to take a log to his front window, Alex found Kyle waiting for him one evening at the base. 

“What are you doing here?” Kyle wasn’t the same arrogant bully he’d been in high school, but Alex wasn’t eager to embrace his newfound desire to be friends. 

“Can I buy you a beer?” Kyle asked, all hints of that teenage swagger gone. 

When Alex didn’t answer, Kyle pressed. “Look. I made a lot of mistakes, Alex. I hate who I was then. But it’s not me. Not anymore.” He paused and then said, “I was hoping for a chance to prove it to you.” 

Alex leaned his weight on his good leg. “And you think drinks at the Wild Pony is the way to do it?”

The corner of Kyle’s mouth ticked up. “Maybe?” 

Alex had made a decision, thanks to hours of treatment, that he wasn’t going to let the betrayal, the anger, the pain, destroy him from the inside out. So he’d softened a little and said, “it’s a start.” 

It’s been a month and they’ve gone out for drinks half a dozen times, including dinner with Liz and Maria at the sheriff’s house. 

It’s getting easier. 

Wednesday nights are quiet at the bar. Alex has never liked the drinking scene but he finds the Wild Pony more tolerable on nights like this. 

They’re in a circular booth near the back when Alex catches sight of Michael coming out of the hallway leading to the restrooms. 

Kyle follows his gaze. “How’s that going?” he asks, nodding in Michael’s direction. 

Alex hadn’t meant to tell Kyle that he and Guerin were attempting a grown up relationship. But three nights into their newfound acquaintance, they closed the bar down over shots and one too many beers. They talked about Liz, about how Kyle wasn’t in love with her anymore but still compared every woman he met to her. Somehow, Kyle opening up to him had compelled Alex to share a little of himself. 

Alex glances at Michael. He’s leaning over the bar, flirting with Maria. “I don’t know,” he says. “We kind of fucked things up.” He hesitates. “ _I_ fucked things up. And I think he’s kind of -” He stops. Kyle’s listening intently. He has a sudden flash of his seventeen-year-old self. “It’s fucking weird talking to you about this.” 

Alex can’t blame Michael for keeping him at arm’s length. He’d made some stupid decisions, said a couple of things he can’t take back, when they were deciding if they should try again. If this time could be different. 

Kyle glances over at the bar. “I don’t think you should worry about Guerin.” Michael’s seen them. “If looks could kill.” 

Michael _knows_ that Alex has been spending time with Kyle, trying to find a way to be friends given the history between them. He’s made it clear he doesn’t trust him but Michael’s not the kind of guy to interfere. 

Kyle’s not wrong, though. Michael’s body language has gone from loose limbed, relaxed and playful, to a rigid set to his shoulders, tension in his spine. He’s shifted his position on the bar stool with a sightline on the two of them. 

“I might be wrong,” Kyle says in a tone of voice that implies he’s not wrong, “but I think Guerin’s jealous.” 

Alex laughs, incredulous. “Guerin doesn’t get jealous.” 

Kyle leans in. “Look, Alex. This is not my strong suit. I’ve got a head for medicine, for science and facts. I’m pretty terrible at the whole-” he waves his hand in a vague circle, “love, matters of the heart thing.” He shakes his head at himself. “But even I can see that Guerin is crazy about you.” 

Alex drains his beer and sets it on the table. It’s a sweet thought, but Alex thinks maybe he’s fucked up one too many times where Michael’s concerned. 

He looks up as he feels Kyle slide closer on the torn vinyl seat. “Kyle, what are you doing?” 

He realizes two seconds too late what Kyle’s about and before he can stop him, Kyle leans in and gives Alex a kiss. There’s nothing sexy about it. Alex feels like he’s been kissed by his brother. But it’s not the point. 

“Kyle,” Alex says, feeling a little hysterical. “What. _Why_?” 

Kyle looks more pleased with himself than he really should. He gets to his feet with the swiftness of someone who’s just realized they’ve poked the bear. “Cause he was watching,” he says with a grin. He throws a twenty on the table. “I’ll see you next week,” he says and takes off. Leaving Alex to deal with the fallout. Coward. 

Michael’s already halfway across the bar when Alex gets to his feet. He steps in front of him, catches him with a hand at his hip. “Michael,” he says. Michael stops, leaning his weight against Alex. He can feel the tension in him. Michael’s pissed. 

Alex ducks his head into Michael’s shoulder to hide his smile. “Don’t,” he says quietly, moving his lips to the shell of Michael’s ear. “Valenti was trying to provoke you.” Alex tries not to laugh at the absurdity that is his life. Kyle fucking Valenti just kissed him at the Wild Pony, to rile up his boyfriend. 

If seventeen-year-old Alex could see him now. 

“Oh yeah?” Michael seems to settle a bit. He’s looking at Alex with the same heat in his eyes he gets when he’s between Alex’s thighs, trailing his lips _down_. He slides his arm around Alex’s waist, right there in the middle of the Wild Pony on a Wednesday night. “And why did he think kissing you would get a reaction?” He slips his hand beneath the hem of Alex’s shirt, his fingers tracing a pattern in the dip of Alex’s spine, a spot that turns Alex to jelly every fucking time. 

“I couldn’t say,” Alex says, breathless. “He might think we’re dating.” 

“Oh?” Michael’s voice has gone playfully low. Alex suddenly wishes they were alone. “And he thinks this because?” 

Alex struggles to match the same playful tone. “I told him,” he says, enjoying the flicker of surprise on Michael’s face. 

Michael knocks the breath out of him, tugging him close and kissing him with an open mouth in the middle of the bar. “Tell Valenti,” he says, tugging Alex towards the exit, “if he does it again, I’ll break his face.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. I'm on [Tumblr](https://elliebirdthings.tumblr.com/)


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